Speaker 1: Welcome to Hill Country Homilies. Weekly homilies from Holy Annunciation
Speaker 1: Orthodox Church in Liberty Hill, Texas. Holy Annunciation is an
Speaker 1: old calendar Orthodox church sharing the faith of the Apostles
Speaker 1: and the love of Christ with all who seek His truth. Now,
Speaker 1: let's listen to this week's homily, and.
Speaker 2: Then the Father and Son the Holy Spirit Glord to
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. Have a seat if you wish, my dear
Speaker 2: brothers and sisters in Christ. On this twelfth Sunday after Pentecost,
Speaker 2: we continue in our regular Sunday electionary, but we are
Speaker 2: also in the after feast of the Transfiguration. And this morning,
Speaker 2: rather than talking about the Gospel of the Rich Young Ruler,
Speaker 2: I instead want to talk to you about our reading
Speaker 2: for the Epistle from the First First Letter to the Corinthians.
Speaker 2: And in this reading, Saint Paul reminds us of the
Speaker 2: foundation upon which all Christian life stands. I declare unto
Speaker 2: you the Gospel which I've preached unto you, which also
Speaker 2: ye have received, and wherein ye stand by which also
Speaker 2: ye are saved. We have all heard these words before.
Speaker 2: We know that Christ died, that he was buried, that
Speaker 2: he rose on the third day. We confess it in
Speaker 2: the Creed, we sing it throughout the postle season, and
Speaker 2: we proclaim it constantly throughout the liturgical year as part
Speaker 2: of our life in the church. But Saint Paul was
Speaker 2: not merely reminding the Corinthians of something familiar. He was
Speaker 2: calling them back to the truth upon which their salvation depends.
Speaker 2: Some among them had begun to waver in their faith
Speaker 2: concerning the resurrection. And though they had received the apostog
Speaker 2: preaching from none other than Paul himself, and they belonged
Speaker 2: to the church, doubts had begun to arise with them.
Speaker 2: And so Paul takes them back to the beginning. I've
Speaker 2: delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received,
Speaker 2: how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
Speaker 2: and that he was buried, and that he rose again
Speaker 2: the third day according to the scriptures. Now, notice how
Speaker 2: carefully Paul speaks. He does not say that he invented
Speaker 2: this message, or that he wrote this message, or that
Speaker 2: he developed it through his own special insight. Instead, he says,
Speaker 2: I delivered unto you that which I also received. Saint
Speaker 2: John Christ system comments upon precisely these words. He says,
Speaker 2: Paul doesn't say merely I taught you, but I delivered
Speaker 2: unto you that which I also received, demonstrating that the
Speaker 2: apostog faith is not something originating from men. Paul in
Speaker 2: instead is handing on what was entrusted to him by
Speaker 2: Christ himself. And this remains the pattern of the Church
Speaker 2: to this day. The Gospel is received, it is preserved,
Speaker 2: is proclaimed, and it is received again, transmitted through generations
Speaker 2: by the successors to the Apostles. The Church has never
Speaker 2: called to reinvent the faith or discover new doctrines, but
Speaker 2: to safeguard faithfully that which it has received. The Gospel
Speaker 2: which saves us is the same gospel that was preached
Speaker 2: by the Apostles. And for Paul, the resurrection is not
Speaker 2: simply one doctrine among many, but it is the heart
Speaker 2: of the Christian faith. Christianity is not merely a philosophy
Speaker 2: of life or a collection of moral teachings. It is
Speaker 2: the proclamation of something that has happened in history. The
Speaker 2: Son of God entered death itself and conquered it. Saint
Speaker 2: John Christen draws particular attention to Paul's words that Christ
Speaker 2: died for his sins. This phrase, which Christians toss around
Speaker 2: almost frivolously today actually bears deep and profound meaning. Christ
Speaker 2: himself was without sin, and he did not die because
Speaker 2: he was subject to sin or to corruption. Rather, being
Speaker 2: without sin, he could only have willingly accepted the bodily
Speaker 2: death that belonged to us, and being the sinless one
Speaker 2: and the author of life, having entered into death, he
Speaker 2: shattered it from within, because he was never able to
Speaker 2: be bound there in the first instance. This week past
Speaker 2: we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.
Speaker 2: The disciples beheld the divine glory of Christ shining through
Speaker 2: his humanity. His face shone like the sun in his garments,
Speaker 2: became radiant with light. The one who was revealed in
Speaker 2: glory upon Tabor is the same one who would soon
Speaker 2: and be led to Golgatha. And the face that shone
Speaker 2: with divine light would soon be struck on the sides,
Speaker 2: and the beloved son of the Father would be mocked
Speaker 2: and scourged and crucified. But yet the darkness of Golgatha
Speaker 2: could never extinguish the light of Tabor. The glory revealed
Speaker 2: on the mountain pointed beyond the cross to the resurrection itself,
Speaker 2: as the Chosen Disciples beheld Moses and Elijah, both bodily
Speaker 2: present and conversing with Christ. Christ entered into death not
Speaker 2: as its victim, but as its conqueror. Saint Athanasius speaks
Speaker 2: beautifully of this mystery, saying that the death, intended by
Speaker 2: Christ's enemies to shame and dishonor him, became the very
Speaker 2: moment of Death's defeat, and through his death, Christ overthrows
Speaker 2: death itself for our salvation. And this is why the
Speaker 2: resurrection changes everything. For mankind had always lived beneath the
Speaker 2: shadow of death. The powerful and the weak, the rich
Speaker 2: the poor, all eventually entered the grave, and human glory faded.
Speaker 2: Kingdoms pass away, and death appeared to have the final
Speaker 2: word over everything. But Christ entered into the tomb and
Speaker 2: broke its power. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem therefore calls Christians
Speaker 2: to rejoice. As the Cross brought sorrow, so the resurrection
Speaker 2: brings joy and gladness. The one who endured the crown
Speaker 2: of thorns has arisen victorious. The one who entered the
Speaker 2: realm of the dead has become the deliverer of all
Speaker 2: those who had fallen asleep. The sins which subject us
Speaker 2: to bodily death, while they sorrow us because here on
Speaker 2: this earth they separate us from God. They no longer
Speaker 2: chain us to Hades. And as the resurrection changed the
Speaker 2: weeping of the merbearers into joy, so to our momentary
Speaker 2: sorrow is supplanted by the postle joy. The resurrection is
Speaker 2: not merely the survival of our soul. Christ rose bodily
Speaker 2: the grave. The Apostles saw him touch him, spoke with him, Moses,
Speaker 2: Elijah bodily present with him on Mount Tabor. The tomb
Speaker 2: stands empty. God has come not only to save souls,
Speaker 2: but to redeem our human nature bodily. Saint Paul reminds
Speaker 2: the Corinthians that the risen Lord appeared to Peter, to
Speaker 2: the twelve, to more than five hundred brethren at once,
Speaker 2: to James and all the Apostles, and finally to Paul
Speaker 2: himself on the road to Damascus. Christianity rests not upon
Speaker 2: myths or private of experiences, but upon the witness of
Speaker 2: those who encountered the risen Christ, and this truth changes
Speaker 2: everything about how we understand life and death. Because of
Speaker 2: Christ is risen, then death is no longer the end
Speaker 2: of the story. When we bury our loved ones, we grieve,
Speaker 2: but not as those who have no hope. We await
Speaker 2: the day of the General resurrection. Win As the disciples
Speaker 2: beheld the divinity of Christ at the transfiguration, we too
Speaker 2: will behold Him face to face. And if Christ has risen,
Speaker 2: then our struggles for holiness are not in vain. No
Speaker 2: sincere prayer can ever be wasted, no sin can ever
Speaker 2: be beyond remission, and no labor offered to God can
Speaker 2: be meaningless. If Christ has risen, then despair itself is
Speaker 2: exposed as a lie. And every sorrow, every trial, and
Speaker 2: every suffering must ultimately yield before the victory of the
Speaker 2: risen Lord. So Saint Paul's teaching is not only about
Speaker 2: christ resurrection from the dead. It's also about the power
Speaker 2: of the risen Christ to transform our human lives. Paul
Speaker 2: describes himself as one not worthy to be called an
Speaker 2: apostle because he persecuted the Church of God viciously. He
Speaker 2: sought to destroy Christianity and the Christians by every human nature.
Speaker 2: He was the least likely by every human measure, he
Speaker 2: was the least likely candidate to become an apostle. Yet
Speaker 2: Christ appear to him. Saint Cyril marvels that God granted
Speaker 2: such providence for such prominence to the former persecutor. The
Speaker 2: church's enemy becomes one of her greatest teachers and defenders.
Speaker 2: In this God demonstrated the truth and the power of
Speaker 2: the Gospel. For when one who was zealous in his
Speaker 2: wars against a faith testifies to its truth, no accusations
Speaker 2: of falsehood can stand. But Paul himself boasts of none
Speaker 2: of this. Instead, he says, by the grace of God,
Speaker 2: I am what I am, and those words reveal what
Speaker 2: the resurrection accomplishes in a human life. The risen Christ
Speaker 2: did not merely teach Paul that there is life after death.
Speaker 2: He transformed him in the present. The persecutor becomes a preacher,
Speaker 2: the destroyer becomes the greatest builder of the Church, and
Speaker 2: the enemy becomes the very apostle of the Lord. The
Speaker 2: same grace is offered to each and every one of
Speaker 2: us in our holy baptism. We all carry sins, failures, weakness, wounds.
Speaker 2: We often convince ourselves that real change is impossible, that
Speaker 2: we're doomed by our own shortcomings. You have the conversion
Speaker 2: of Paul stands before us as a witness that no
Speaker 2: one is beyond the reach of God's grace, No sin
Speaker 2: is greater than Christ's mercy, no habit stronger than His grace,
Speaker 2: and no heart is so hardened that it cannot be
Speaker 2: renewed through repentance. Brothers and sisters, Saint Paul reminds us
Speaker 2: today of the gospel we have received, the gospel in
Speaker 2: which we stand, and the gospel by which we will
Speaker 2: be saved. Christ died for our sins, buried, rose again,
Speaker 2: He conquered death, He changed the persecutors into apostles. And
Speaker 2: let us therefore not treat the resurrection just as a
Speaker 2: familiar doctrine, not easy words to throw away. Let us
Speaker 2: not treat the transfiguration as a glorious event remembered annually
Speaker 2: in the church calendar. The glory manifested in the resurrections,
Speaker 2: the same glory that was revealed beforehand on Mount Table
Speaker 2: and that same light that shines through the cross, that
Speaker 2: same light that shines through the cross that breaks open
Speaker 2: the tomb, and has offered even now to illumine transform
Speaker 2: our own hearts. And because Christ has risen, the glory
Speaker 2: shown to the disciples on Mount Tabor is no distant vision,
Speaker 2: but a foreshadowing of what He intends for all who
Speaker 2: stand in His Gospel, to be changed by his grace,
Speaker 2: to be filled with his light, and to be brought
Speaker 2: at last into the joy of his eternal kingdom. To
Speaker 2: him who was transfigured on Mount Table for our salvation,
Speaker 2: be all glory, honor, and worship, now heaving to the
Speaker 2: ages of ages.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to her country homilies. For more information,
Speaker 1: visit Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church at www dot DENUNCIATIONTX dot com,
Speaker 1: and please join us again next week. M